2026 British Open snooker semi-finals preview: Home quartet chasing Cheltenham crown

There has been lots of talk in recent weeks about a Chinese takeover at the top of the sport, but this weekend’s final four line-up is an all-British affair, featuring players with contrasting rolls of honour within the professional ranks.

In the afternoon session starting at 13:00BST, Mark Selby - winner of this crown here two years ago - will come up against world number 69 Liam Highfield who is appearing in his maiden ranking event semi-final.

The second semi takes place in the evening from 19:00BST with recently dethroned world number one Judd Trump from England facing in-form Welshman Jak Jones who in July secured his first ranked accolade at the Championship League.

Both Selby and Trump have also won trophies over the summer, meanwhile Highfield has carried over some brilliant from the end of last season into this fledgling top tier campaign.

Mark Selby v Liam Highfield

Selby’s super consistency at this ‘FA Cup-style’ random draw tournament in recent years continues; he has now appeared in at least the semi-finals for four consecutive years.

The four-time World Champion has exhibited his trademark grit and determination throughout this week to emerge from tight finishes, as well as battling fatigue after a busy few weeks in the Far East, during which he won the China Open.

‘The Jester from Leicester’ had to win each of his opening three ties via the deciding frame route - one of those ending at past half midnight, and the other two coming on the same day.

His 4-2 last 16 victory over Iulian Boiko was no cinch either, but he did unexpectedly enjoy a very comfortable quarter-final experience on Friday when he dispatched a very out-of-sorts Jack Lisowski, 5-0.

In what is an all-English encounter, Selby’s latest opponent Highfield is into unchartered territory on the World Snooker Tour.

Highfield’s journey in this event actually started in Selby’s home city of Leicester several weeks ago, where he compiled his maiden maximum 147 break in professional competition in the opening frame of his 4-1 win over Stephen Maguire.

Unlike his semi-final rival, 35-year-old Highfield hasn’t been taken to a single deciding frame en route, dismissing 2024 World Champion Kyren Wilson, 4-1, in the round of 32, and a 5-2 success over teenager Stan Moody in the last eight. It was a case of ‘third time’s a charm’ having fallen in his previous two career quarter-final outings.

A chasm between them in terms of ranking titles won - Selby with 26 and Highfield with none - but the underdog has already equalled his biggest single payday of £20,000, and could play with nothing to lose.

In terms of their head-to-head record across all formats, Selby holds an 8-3 leaf. Interestingly, though, Highfield has won all three of their deciding-frame climaxes.

Judd Trump v Jak Jones

For the first time, Trump has managed to reach the final four of this event; his previous best result was a quarter-final finish in 2024.

Shanghai Masters champion in August, Trump came from behind in both his first two games here to win 4-2 before a brace of 4-0 whitewash wins on the same day. On Friday night, he saw off the player who recently took the world number one spot off him, Zhao Xintong, 5-1.

Jones has had a very eventful journey in this year’s British Open that began at the qualifiers where he squeezed past Matthew Selt, 4-3.

He very nearly didn’t turn up to Cheltenham for his opening fixture after being sent an erroneous email from the organisers with the wrong start time. If it wasn’t for fellow professional Phil O’Kane pointing out to him that his time was different on the World Snooker Tour website, who knows what would have happened.

But the former Crucible finalist got there where he played impressive stuff to sweep last year’s runner-up Anthony McGill, 4-0, with two centuries.

In the last 32 he stopped recent Wuhan Open winner Chang Bingyu (4-1), then Latvian youngster Artemijs Zizins (4-2), before denying the Republic of Ireland’s number one player Aaron Hill late on Friday night with a 5-4 success.

Analysing their head-to-head record, Trump holds a firm advantage, but Jones did win their most memorable encounter - a 13-9 victory in the quarter-finals of the 2024 World Championship,

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 British Open snooker, visit our tournament information centre here.